DOI: 10.38007/978-1-80053-683-8

Currently, the detection of acrolein often requires relatively complex and cumbersome sample processing steps, along with the use of expensive instruments such as high-performance liquid chromatography, resulting in poor real-time detection and high testing costs. Another difficulty in detecting acrolein lies in its collection; common gas sampling devices are often large, complex, and difficult to use in household environments. As a result, acrolein detection cannot be conducted online, making it difficult for groups exposed to acrolein risks to identify the danger and take precautions in a timely manner. These two factors make timely and effective acrolein detection challenging. Therefore, developing low-cost, fast, and efficient methods for detecting acrolein holds great significance for the restaurant industry and households, particularly Chinese households. 

Recently, several probes that can effectively and specifically bind to acrolein have been reported. Those probes are characteristic of significant changes in absorption spectra and fluorescence enhancement, making it possible to develop a rapid detector for acrolein. Lego, as a common product easily available at home, at the same time, is blessed with small tolerance, low price, and good scalability. Various kinds of simple sampling and detectors developed based on Legos have been used in a variety of detection occasions, and all of them have demonstrated excellent performance. 

After constructing the analysis strategy for the acrolein in kitchen fumes, in order to further improve the usability of the developed detections, I tried to prepare different material-loaded fluorescent probes and tested the effect after combining acrolein under different loading materials. I attempted to find the application with a longer effective time and easier operation. Finally, on a glass loaded with covalent organic frameworks (COFs), effective solvent retention time was achieved, providing a more reliable basis for the function of the developed probe than the test paper, which greatly increases the potential for commercialization of the developed probe. 

By selecting an isophorone-based compound as the fluorescent probe for acrolein detection, loading COFs — which attach the fluorescent probe—onto glass, and developing the gas sampling device using Legos to house the glass, I developed a visual acrolein online detector that generates a fluorescent signal under UV lamp irradiation. 

My device is low-cost, easy-to-operate and quick to respond to real-time changes in acrolein levels in kitchen fumes. I used it to detect the simulated kitchen environment of acrolein and observed an early warning of a high acrolein content. 

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